Unknown Space – Fracture Realm Core
There was no ground.
No sky.
Only shards of memories floating through an endless void, drifting like shattered glass suspended in moonlight.
Rael stood at the center of it all—his heart pounding, his body cracked with energy veins, the Specter Core Fragment pulsing inside his chest like a second heart.
> "NeXus…" he whispered.
"Where are we?"
> Location: Fracture Realm – Tier IV.
Status: Temporal Identity Deconstruction In Progress.
Warning: Host at risk of complete memory collapse.
Rael winced as dozens of echoes of himself flickered into view around him. Each one twisted, different. Some were younger. Some older. Some were monstrous. Some wore armor he'd never seen. And some…
> "Is that me… smiling?"
A version of Rael stood casually in a long coat, two revolvers holstered at his side, whistling as he leaned against a time pillar.
> "Yo, Specter."
"You made a real mess."
Rael turned slowly.
The version was calm, charming, almost annoyingly confident.
> "Which one are you?" he asked.
> "Call me Variant-7. I'm the free one."
Behind him, the void shifted. Scenes replayed—times Rael had no memory of: battles, betrayals, decisions made in lives he hadn't lived… yet.
Then, another Rael appeared—this one drenched in black armor with glowing red eyes, holding a fractured sword that bled smoke.
> "I'm Variant-2," the armored Rael growled. "The one who chose vengeance."
More appeared.
Variant-9: a scholar surrounded by holographic equations and fate charts.
Variant-3: a beast-like figure barely human, snarling through a cage.
Each one was him—and yet, not.
And then, at the farthest edge of the fracture field—he saw her.
Aria.
Or rather, the version of her that Seraph-07 had twisted. She stood motionless, her eyes glowing with hollow light, arms stretched toward a massive floating engine made of gears, runes, and corrupted memories.
> "That's the Heart Anchor Core," Variant-9 said.
"Whoever controls it rewrites the fate tether between dimensions."
> "That's how they're using her to collapse the multiverse," Variant-7 added.
"Turn Aria into a living bridge."
Rael felt the weight of choice crush down on him.
These were all him.
Each one made different decisions.
But only one would be allowed to escape the Fracture Realm. Only one could claim the Prime Fate Thread and become the True Specter.
And to do that—he had to confront them all.
> "You know the rules," said the armored Variant-2.
"Kill us, or be replaced."
Rael narrowed his eyes.
> "I don't need to kill you."
He stepped forward, letting his power pulse.
> "I'm not choosing between vengeance or peace. Intelligence or instinct. I'm not just the Doller or the Dreamer."
> "I am the sum of all versions."
His hand reached out, channeling the power of the Specter Core Fragment.
Each variant stepped back, shocked.
NeXus flickered brighter.
> WARNING: Unauthorized Fusion Detected.
Proceeding will merge all variant threads into a singular being.
Outcome: Unknown.
Rael didn't hesitate.
> "I'm tired of being split."
Lightning cracked.
Reality bent.
Each version of Rael—whether monster, scholar, killer, or hero—was pulled toward him, screaming or resisting, but ultimately merging into his body as glowing light spiraled upward.
His mind fractured.
Then realigned.
Memories of lifetimes surged through him—training in starfields, fighting through hellscapes, negotiating with alien councils, holding Aria's hand as she died—again and again.
And then silence.
One heartbeat.
Then two.
Rael floated alone.
And when he opened his eyes, they burned with stars.
> "NeXus… what's my classification now?"
> Designation Updated:
"Specter Prime: Genesis Singularity."
He looked toward the anchor engine.
Aria's body was already being consumed.
> "Then let's save her."
---
Elsewhere – The Dollmaker's Labyrinth
The cloaked being staggered as alarms blared.
> "Impossible…" the Dollmaker muttered.
"The Prime Thread shouldn't support a Genesis Merge…"
A glowing cube vibrated violently on his desk.
Inside it, a distorted memory flickered—Rael as a chil
d, crying, surrounded by lifeless bodies. The Dollmaker's gloved hand tightened.
> "No more shortcuts, then."
He stood.
> "Release the Omega Shards. Prepare the Black Echo."
Fracture Realm – Core Nexus Zone
The void shimmered like shattered glass reborn. Rael's newly merged form hovered midair—his body now fused with every variant, his consciousness racing with unified memories, instincts, and purpose.
> Specter Prime Status: Stable
New Subsystem Unlocked: Omega Insight Vision
Current Threat Level: God-tier (Suppressed)
Rael opened his eyes.
They were no longer just eyes—they were windows. The past, future, and present flowed within them like cascading code. Every probability matrix, every threat, every opportunity was now visible.
And in front of him, suspended in radiant threads of corrupted time, was Aria—no longer entirely human.
The Heart Anchor Core had wrapped around her like a chrysalis. Her hands were laced with chrono-steel wires, her eyes glowing with both fear and oblivion.
NeXus's voice whispered urgently in his mind:
> Warning: Core Fusion with Subject "Aria" at 89%
Once complete, she becomes a living gate to the Dollmaker's True Labyrinth.
Rael drifted forward slowly.
One step. Two.
He felt her. Somewhere beneath the control, her heartbeat still called out. It was faint. But it was hers.
Suddenly—
An angelic sigil exploded beneath the anchor, and a being cloaked in white flames emerged.
> "You should not be here."
"You were meant to fracture, not ascend."
It was a Seraph Node—a higher-tier enforcer of the Dollmaker. Its face was empty, its arms twin blades of divine light, its voice layered in thousands of languages.
Rael didn't flinch.
> "You corrupted her."
> "She was chosen to ascend. She begged for a new fate. And now, her soul belongs to the Anchor Protocol."
The Seraph lunged—its blades spinning in time-slicing arcs—but Rael vanished.
Reappearing behind it, he drove a spectral punch into the creature's core. Code splattered across the realm like sparks.
But the Seraph didn't fall.
> "You may have merged, Specter… but I am eternal."
With a thunderclap, the Seraph summoned Mirrorfolds—alternate dimensions reflecting different timelines. Each one filled with broken versions of Aria, screaming, fighting, corrupted.
Rael staggered.
It was psychological warfare.
He saw one Aria crying for help with hollow eyes.
Another laughing as she impaled him.
A third chained to the Heart Anchor, begging for death.
> "Do you see?" the Seraph taunted.
"No matter the path, you always lose her."
Rael clenched his fists. He heard the whispers of his variants, now within him.
> "Run."
"Destroy everything."
"Accept fate."
But he silenced them all.
> "No. I decide."
From his chest, the Specter Core expanded, forming a glowing Omega Window—a smart interface now visible across reality.
Lines of data flowed across it—options, simulations, energy links, Aria's vitals, anchor pulse intervals, weakness parameters in the Seraph's pattern.
> "NeXus," he whispered.
"Target Mirrorfolds: Synchronize emotional resonance."
> Confirmed.
Running Soul Frequency Overlay…
Suddenly, his vision flashed.
He saw the true Aria.
Not broken. Not corrupted.
But sitting quietly in a classroom.
The first day they met.
Back when everything was simple.
Before powers. Before betrayals. Before multiverses.
> "You're late again, Rael," she had said, smiling.
"But I saved you a seat."
His heart shattered. Not in despair.
But clarity.
> "That's who I'm saving."
The Omega Window responded to his emotions, morphing into Anchor Override Mode.
A new power awakened:
> Unlocked: Soulframe Override – Restore Original Frequency.
Cost: 70% Core Energy. Risk: Dimensional Collapse.
Rael didn't blink.
> "Do it."
He lunged forward, arms glowing with omega symbols, phasing through the Mirrorfolds, absorbing the broken Aria variants—each one releasing a scream of thanks as they vanished into him.
The Seraph roared.
> "You dare undo what we have woven?!"
Rael struck.
Hard.
The Omega symbols locked onto the Heart Anchor Core, burning through it.
Aria screamed—but her voice was real now. Her soul returning.
The Seraph's light flickered, collapsing from the inside.
Rael whispered:
> "We were never tools."
With one final pulse, he detonated the Omega core—
—light swallowed the fracture realm.
Silence.
And then…
A whisper.
> "Rael?" a soft voice called out.
He turned.
She was there.
Aria.
Unbound. Crying.
Alive.
---
Elsewhere – Deep Core of the Labyrinth
The Dollmaker stood before a massive black engine—the Eclipse Loom—its spindles spinning fate threads.
> "He's ahead of schedule," the Dollmaker muttered.
"Time to unseal Project Entropy."
He pressed a key.
And far across dimensions, a new echo awakened.
Rael's forgotten brother.
One the universe erased.
Now returning.